The Tudor Society

June 26 – Sir Edmund Carew

On this day in Tudor history, 26th June 1513, in the reign of King Henry VIII, landowner, administrator and soldier Sir Edmund Carew was buried in the church of St Nicholas in Calais.

Carew, who was about 49, was killed while serving as master of the ordnance in Henry VIII’s 1513 French campaign. The English force had pitched their tents a mile outside the town of Therouanne and chronicler Edward Hall records what happened next:

“as certain captains were in council, in the Lord Herbert’s tent, suddenly out of the town was shot a gun, the pellet whereof slew a noble captain called the Baron of Carew, sitting there in council...”

Carew’s military career had not only cost him his life, he’d also had to mortgage family estates to the Crown - the cost of serving a king.

Also on this day in Tudor history...

Leave a Reply

June 26 – Sir Edmund Carew